fandomhigh | Ethics [Tuesday, March 3, 2nd period]

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Ethics [Tuesday, March 3, 2nd period]

A very tanned Anakin leaned a little uncomfortably against his desk as he waited for the students to take their seats.

"Today we talk about diligence, temperance, and forgiveness," he said quietly, "and we're going to use examples from the midterm exam to do so."

He flipped the hologram to life, focusing on a shot of Palpatine's face. "The goal was to save this man, the democratically chosen leader of your galaxy, at the cost--if necessary--of your own lives. After the first dozen or so droids shooting at you, you certainly had the option of retreating and leaving the mission for someone else to complete. So when does diligence turn to foolhardiness?"

The holocam switched to footage of two Jedi, blue blades flashing, taking on an older man wielding a red lightsaber. The battle was moving at least three times as fast as the exercise had. The older Jedi went ricocheting into a wall, then the second one, fire in his eyes, closed in on their opponent. A few moments later the Sith dropped to his knees with two lightsabers held to his throat.

The Jedi wielding the lightsabers looked an awful lot like their teacher.

"Temperance," Anakin said softly. "Do you kill him now? He's dangerous. He held the head of a galaxy-wide government hostage. He injured your partner. He certainly tried to kill you first. Or do you capture him and leave him to the whims of the courts?"

He shook his head. "Finally, forgiveness. You save the chancellor, at great personal expense, only to discover he's not the kind of man you thought he was. Your act of heroism has managed to make the situation at home much, much worse. How do you forgive yourself for it? Can you forgive the others who put you into that position?"

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Can you forgive yourself for making a wrong choice? Would you have chosen to save the chancellor if you'd known it was going to screw up the future?

That question was a bit harder to answer.

"I'd get over it," Chuck said. Didn't necessarily mean he'd forgive himself or anybody else.

"That's not the same as forgiving yourself," Anakin pointed out quietly.

"Then, no, I guess I wouldn't forgive anybody," Chuck said. "But I wouldn't beat myself up over it."

Edited 2009-03-03 16:46 (UTC)

Re: Answer the discussion question: forgiveness

sith_happened - 2009-03-03 18:19 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Answer the discussion question: forgiveness

rocksthescarf.livejournal.com - 2009-03-03 20:28 (UTC) - Expand

"Uhhhh," Hurley said. "I... probably would beat myself up over it. A lot."

Might as well be honest with the Jedi teacher dude.

"I did too," Anakin admitted. "How would you try to get past it?"

"I dunno," Hurley said. "I... haven't been really able to, ever. Though it kinda fades out over time?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: forgiveness

sith_happened - 2009-03-03 18:22 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Answer the discussion question: forgiveness

likes-chicken.livejournal.com - 2009-03-03 18:57 (UTC) - Expand

"I'm not sure that trying to save a life is ever the wrong choice, even in a situation like this," Zayne said, even if he did sound conflicted.

Anakin gave him a tiny, proud smile. "Jedi," he said.

Zayne was slightly surprised by that response. Master Lucien would have killed the Chancellor, no doubt about it. The fact that Zayne and Lucien wouldn't see eye to eye on an issue like that was one of the reasons why the Masters didn't think much of Zayne's chances.

So the fact that another Jedi seemed to be complimenting him for it? It made Zayne smile a little.

"We all make wrong choices," Temari said in a weary tone that implied she didn't quite mean the occasional unfortunate outfit. "The only thing anyone with a brain can do is to work to correct them and not repeat it."

"So what would you do differently if faced with a situation similar to this?" Anakin asked.

Temari smiled faintly, looking down. "I couldn't say, honestly. I'd try to avoid making another decision like that first of all."

"I'm not particularly good at forgiving myself," Helen admitted. "But, given the information I had I think I would still have saved him, even though I felt terrible about it later."

"Make the best decision you can with the information you have available," Anakin said, nodding. "But should you have looked harder for more information to begin with?"

"It came from a trusted source," Helen said.

Re: Answer the discussion question: forgiveness

sith_happened - 2009-03-03 18:24 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Answer the discussion question: forgiveness

elephantgadget.livejournal.com - 2009-03-03 18:27 (UTC) - Expand

She tugged at her hair.

"Forgive is a bit much," Ino said, a bit dubiously, "but you can't just let a mistake taint the rest of your life--you've just got to make sure that you learn from it and don't make the same mistake again."

"But this was a rather huge lapse in judgment," Anakin replied. "The man went on to destroy the seated government and bring about a twenty year reign of terror. How would it not be something you'd think about?"

Not that he did. All the time. Really.

She shrugged.

"You can't dwell on it. That's stupid. You made a mistake--either fix it, or just let other people fix it. Making them deal with your guilt, making yourself deal with guilt is just a waste of energy."

"As long as I follow my mission objectives there's nothing to feel bad about," Triela said simply. Her eyes flashed a sort of challenge. Anakin had given her detention, after all.

"And if the mission goes south?" Anakin asked. "Is there something to feel badly about then?"

Re: Answer the discussion question: forgiveness

sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com - 2009-03-03 18:30 (UTC) - Expand

Leto thought for a moment. "Persisting in accusations for things you couldn't have predicted are pointless, but human. There are strategies to move past it, like trying to define what you have learnt from your mistake, but in the end..." He shrugged. "Forgiveness is never an easy thing, neither of yourself nor of others."

"Is it easier to forgive others, or yourself?" Anakin asked.

Re: Answer the discussion question: forgiveness

future_sandworm - 2009-03-03 20:10 (UTC) - Expand

Marco was definitely not studying the table, really. "I'd move on. There's always something good on TV."

"On TV," Anakin repeated flatly. "That sounds like a terribly healthy way to deal with something. Truly."